When I asked people on Twitter which blog posts they saw as the most important in 2011, this blog post [Ar] was the second one to get recommendations after Maikel Nabil's post. It was written in June, a few months after the constitution amendments referendum. At the time, there was a huge debate on whether to have the parliamentary elections first and then let the parliament write the country's post-revolution constitution, or have a committee to write the constitution then have the parliamentary and presidential elections later on. The debate was huge, and reached it's peak during the referendum. Mohammed Abo El-Ghait's wrote that post as he saw that the majority of those who participated in the revolution didn't care about such an “elitist” debate as their goal then was related to improving their living standards. In the post, he also did two important things, he first sort-of coined that expression, which Alaa Abdel-Fattah used later on in another important blog post called “The Dream Comes First [Ar]“, as well as many others who played on this expression in their discussions. The second thing he did, is that he challenged that mindset that the Egyptian revolution was a peaceful revolution powered by the middle and upper class. He started his post with photos of poor people, or what Egyptian call “Sarsageyya,” making fun of them because the way they dress, the background and the visual effects they have in those photos, then he shocked the readers by telling them that those photos are for martyrs who died during the revolution even though the media insists on showing the photos of the middle-class martyrs only.

Alyaa has been featured and interviewed later on by many national and international newspapers, and Ahmed Abd El-Fatah also tweeted [Ar] that the feature about her in Al-Masry Al-Youm English (one of the leading English-language newspapers in Egypt) got the highest number of visits in the newspaper's history. Her decision to publish nude photos of herself also ignited a heated debate online as well as offline. Personally, I know people who never read a blog post in their lives, yet have visited Alyaa's blog.

More Blog Posts

Three days before the beginning of the Egyptian revolution on January 25, and few days after the Tunisian one, Zeinobia wrote a list of lessons she believes we should learn from the Tunisian revolution. One day after Mubarak stepped down, and while people were celebrating their victory and leaving Tahrir Square back to their homes, Hossam El-Hamalawy wrote a post warning that the revolution is far from over. He also defended the workers' right to strike, which he believes is an integral part the revolution just like demonstrations in the squares. During the sit-in in Tahrir in July, Sandmonkey wrote a post entitled, “Tahrir: an Exercise in Nation Building“, in it he said that away from the political value of the sit-in as a sort of pressure to achieve the revolution's demands, those taking part in the protest were having a fascinating social experiment as “Tahrir was very quickly becoming a miniature-size Egypt, with all of its problems, but without a centralized government. And the parallels are uncanny”. He went on comparing the parallels, and ended his post saying:

“basically if you are interested in figuring out what the problems facing our society and the best way to solve them, Tahrir is where you should be heading to right now”.

Sandmonkey's post reminds me of that post of Obliviology, where she to some extent also described Tahrir Square but during the 18 days of the revolution this time. And finally, another interesting post is that of Karim Shafei [Ar] - which was featured by Ayesha Saldanha here - where he described Cairo (the capital of Egypt) and in ironic way, compares it to mini-independent-states and not just a single city.

The protest followed the buzz created by a video that showed men in military uniform, dragging a female protester, exposing her underwear, and beating her in the chest.

For three weeks prior to the clashes between the army and protesters in downtown Cairo, activists have been staging a sit-in outside the Cabinet headquarters, protesting against the military appointment of Kamal El Ganzouri as the new Prime Minister of Egypt earlier this month. The ongoing battle has so far claimed the lives of at least 13 people, leaving hundreds injured as soldiers battled with protesters in and around Tahrir Square since December 16.

Apart from this, the atrocities committed by the soldiers against women shocked the world, prompting Egyptian women to take to the streets and call for dignity today.

@AbdeltwabH: near the journalists' headquarters; the slogan is ”people want the overthrow of the Marshal.” The number is big, more than 7,000.

The Marshal is Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the de facto military ruler of Egypt since the ousting of former president Hosni Mubarak on February 11, 2011.

Men join women's cause

Men also joined the protest and formed a human wall to protect the female protesters.

Photo by Abdeltwab Hassan featuring young men surrounding the female protesters shared on Twitpic

Yasmin Galal notes:

@YasminGalal: Proud of all the men joining Egypt's #WomenMarch , physical integrity is a right for all Egyptians

And Randa Ali adds:

@randamali: Men and women of all classes, ideologies , ages here! #womenMarch.

Slogans at the march

The protesters were not only chanting slogans in solidarity with their female compatriots, who have been brutally beaten up by soldiers, but were also calling for the fall of military rule in Egypt. Here are some of the slogans chanted, and shared via the hash tag #womenmarch on Twitter.

@Occupy_Tahrir:The protesters are chanting “hold your head high, every part of you is purer than the one who attacked you” #WomenMarch #OccupyCabinet

@MinaNaguib90:Chant: Come out of your homes, Tantawy took off your daughters' clothes

@loolyez: Egyptian women are a red line, Egyptian women are a red line

@farida904: We weren't just chanting for ourselves. We were chanting for freedom, social justice and the respect of human dignity #womenmarch #egypt

The following video, uploaded by sawrageya on YouTube, features female protesters calling for Marshal Tantawi to leave.

According to Egyptian @Egyptocracy, who is taking part in the protest, at around 5:15 pm Cairo time, the rally reached the #occupycabinet sit in, and then headed back towards Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the Egyptian revolution, and the site of clashes between protesters and the military for the past five days. She tweets:

Egypt's Military Police set Cairo's Tahrir Square ablaze and forcefully pushed away protesters demonstrating outside the Cabinet on the first anniversary of the Arab revolution, sparked by the self-immolation of Mohammed Bouazizi in Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia. Egypt's netizens are on hand to provide witness accounts of what is happening on the ground now.

The battle #OccupyCabinet has been raging for two days: eight people have been killed and more than 300 injured as the military attacked protesters who have been camping outside the Cabinet headquarters in Cairo for the past three weeks, protesting against the military appointment of Egyptian Prime Minister Kamal El Ganzouri as the new Prime Minister earlier this month.

El Ganzouri just gave a press conference, stressing that the army would not attack peaceful protesters. Minutes later, a full offensive was waged on the protesters, pushing them away from the cabinet and clearing and burning Tahrir Square. Netizens report their witness accounts live on Twitter as I type.

OneRevolution tweets:

@nagoul1: A massacre is taking place in #Tahrir right #now! #egypt #NoScaf #MediaBlackout

December152011

Talk Back TV Middle East provides a way for people from in the Middle East and North Africa can talk back and give their take on state controlled television and mass media using only a webcam and computer.

You see something on TV and want to TalkBack – Pick your clip from our rich source media database, record your comments via webcam, use our simple editor to put it together, and then watch your video remix on TalkBackTV’s dual-screen player. When you’re done, hit publish and share you finished ‘Rant’ everywhere you go online. Your webcam is now a weapon of mass communication.

Currently highlighted on their blog is a rant by Khaled Eibid on Essam Atta, a 24 year old Egyptian activist tortured and murdered by guards in the the Egyptian military prison where he was retained. The event has failed to make headlines internationally, and that his death should go unnoticed has spurred Khaled Eibid into action:

Khaleds Eibid rant honoring Essam Atta and other activists killed by the regime is in Arabic. Here is the rough translation. I can't tell what the music is. But it is perfect.

“We did not get justice for Khaled Said”
” We did not get justice for Said bilal”
” Are going to let justice flee again for Essam Atta?”

” Why the Egyptian blood so cheap ” ?

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Other collaborators have added their videos on a diversity of topics. For example, Raafatology brings to the discussion the need Egyptians had to be able to vote from abroad for the recent elections like counterparts in other countries like Sudan and Iraq are able to do. At the end and after a fight, their right to vote was respected.

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Khaled Eibid provides another rant on the impunity for crimes of violence the military commits against civilians. The Egyptian army assaulted civilian demonstrators after Jan25 and the judiciary system failed to be effective in getting justice for those cases. The army represses the revolution but fails to take the chance to do something positive for the country, instead taking it out against protesters, sometimes in a ratio of 15 military personnel for each civilian.

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And as a short comment on the same video, Akhnaton wonders why the police don't fall back into the headquarters now, just like they did on January 28th.

December142011

The second stage of Egypt's parliamentary elections started today, with Egyptians in nine provinces going to the polls.

Zeinobia, from Egyptian Chronicles, blogs about this stage saying that polling stations will be open in Giza, Bani Sawif, Monufia, Sharkia, Ismailia, Suez, Beheira, Sohag and Aswan.

She adds:

There are 3,387 candidates across the 9 governorates competing for 180 seats in this stage. “2,271 are competing for 60 individual seats while 1,116 are competing over 120 lists seats”

The elections, the first since the fall of former President Hosni Mubarak, started on November 28 and are expected to continue until January 10, 2012, and are being held in three stages.

About 19 million Egyptians are eligible to vote in this second stage, which continue until tomorrow. The candidates are vying for 498 seats in the lower house. Today's and tomorrow's elections will be followed by run-off elections where neck to neck candidates will face off after a week. In this round, constituents are expected to cast three ballots, two for individual candidates and a third for a party.

Once a Parliament is in place, it will be responsible for appointing a committee which will draft the country's new constitution, which will pave the way to the presidential elections later on.

Here is a snap shot of reactions from Twitter about is happening in different provinces across Egypt today.

Journalist Rawya Rageh tweets her experience in Giza so far, complaining about the harassment the Press is facing there. She asks:

@RawyaRageh: Are other journos having difficulties reporting from inside voting stations in #Giza? #Egyelections #Egypt

And continues:

@RawyaRageh: Security this time not as cooperative.. Military asked us to move away from station, police asking us about ‘permits' #Egyelections #Giza

She adds:

@RawyaRageh: Not being allowed to film inside several voting stations in #Giza despite HEC credentials, being told state TV only #Egyelections #Egypt

Rageh observes:

@RawyaRajeh: Turnout quite low in #Giza, nothing at all like the numbers I saw in #Assiut in 1stround. Any word on other provinces? #Egyelections #Egypt

Nadia El Awady disagrees with this observation, noting long badly organised queues at the polling station in Al Haram, in Al Koum Al Akhdhar.

She tweets:

@NadiaE: There was an endless non-line of women infront of school. I'll have to try again tonight or early tomorrow #egyelections

She shares this photograph on Twitpic showing the chaos.

Long queues at polling station in Al Haram. Photo by Nadia ElAwady, shared via Twitpic on Twitter

She then asks:

@NadiaE: Can someone tell me the down times for women in #egyelections? Lunch time? Evening? When do i have best chance of finding fewest women?

Other journalists are also reporting long queues elsewhere.

Steven Cook tweets:

@stevenacook: Long lines waiting to vote in Imbaba. People are in good spirits #EgyElections

Hannah Allam is in Suez and writes:

@HannahAllam: In Suez, long lines of voters, heavy army presence. #Egyelections

And it won't be Egypt, if reactions were not infused with Egyptian humour.

Amira Salah-Ahmed jokes:

@Amiralx: Come to Egypt, home of the pyramids and land of perpetual elections #EgyElections

And the Arabist adds:

@arabist: Just heard of a voter dipping his finger in the judge's coffee rather than the ink pot. #egyelections

Months after former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stepped down, and just days after many people were reported to have suffocated and died allegedly because of new types of tear gas used by the Egyptian police, a new tear gas shipment arrived at the Suez Port from the United States (US) a few days ago.

Photo shared by Shadizm on Facebook.

The story broke when it was reported [ar] in Al Ahram Arabic daily that the employees of the custom service in Suez refused to receive a shipment with containers of seven tons of tear gas in each, creating an uproar on social networking sites. Here is part of the conversation from Twitter:

@Psypherize: A new tear gas shipment 7 tonnes heavy just arrived in #Cairo from #Suez and stored by the #MOI. Get ready for another crackdown.

@RashaAbdulla: So apparently, the 7-ton tear gas shipment from the #US to #Egypt is only part 1 of 3. Total is 21 tons!!

The tear gas bombs in this shipment are manufactured in the United States, hence people are wondering how the US claims to support the Arab world revolutions yet continues to support tyrannies across the region.

@freddydeknatel: But what does that say then, when you’ve got tear gas shipments arriving in the Port of Suez with “Made in the USA” on the side of them?

@waleedrashed: To U.S. and European governments:instead of asking how can we promote democracy in the Egypt, just stop exporting the gas used against today

@KhaRouBology: To #USA .. SHUT UP .. Stop sending the f**kin chemical bombs to #Egypt. And then support our Revolution

Finally, it was reported that the shipment was released and headed to the Ministry of Interior:

November282011

Egyptians are voting in parliamentary elections on November 28 and 29, 2011, and despite calls for a boycott, it seems that most people have chosen to participate.

Not all of Egypt votes on these dates; the elections are staggered across three stages, each covering nine governorates. The first stage includes the cities of Cairo and Alexandria.

Some people are not voting on principle, such as blogger and journalist Sarah Carr, who writes:

In case you’re asking I won’t be voting. Neither will several of my acquaintances. While there is a strong argument against a boycott (it might help keep out religiously conservative forces) it doesn’t sway my conviction that taking part in the election gives legitimacy to a regime that doesn’t deserve it, that has treated Egyptians like foolish children and whose only display of creativity during this never-ending transitional process has been in methods of killing people and building walls.

For me, not voting has little to do with apathy. I believe that people should demand that an untainted civilian (perhaps in the form of a strong PM) or civilian council (perhaps in the form of Presidential Council) should be the authority to oversee the ministries who will manage parliamentary elections. Until that is the case I cannot, with a clear conscience, participate in parliamentary elections that grant legitimacy to a dictatorial force whose self interests are above those of the country.

Towards the end of the first day's voting, Mostafa Hussein was not convinced:

November252011

Thursday 24 November, 2011, and Egypt’s latest stage of unrest has now merged into Day six: it’s 4.33 am in capital Cairo. Supposedly Tahrir Square, Egypt, is under a truce for the night. But every ceasefire called in Tahrir over the past five days has been followed by a “Ha! Gotcha!” crackdown from police and Central Security Forces (CSF).

@mfatta7: The police violated the ceasefire in Mohamed Mahmoud. The youth will not back down now until squash the interior ministry.

The sullied white flag falls and a new volley of gas is blasted at the crowds of protesters occupying the various streets leading into the square - Mohamed Mahmoud Street and Tahrir Square itself.

This video, uploaded to YouTube by user TWorkx on 23 November, 2011, shows a ceasefire attempt between the Ministry of Interior and protestors:

In Alexandria, the unrest has been limited to marches between Al-Qaed Ibrahim Mosque and the suburb of Smouha, where the Security Directorate (Modereyet elAmn) is located. But despite the reportedly localised nature of the violence, at least one innocent passerby has been shot dead in the crossfire.

@RawyaRageh: Family telling us Sherif wasn't part of protest, & was just walking thru w his family when bullet hit his neck #Alexandria #Egypt #Smouha

At this point in time, the death toll in Egypt is allegedly just shy of 40 according to the Health Ministry as reported here, although this doesn’t seem to take into account the two deaths that occurred in Ismailia late on Wednesday night. Judging by Twitter reports from journalists on the ground in Alexandria and other cities, it is safe to assume that this death count is inaccurate. It’s certainly a number on the rise.

(List of Cairo’s fallen alone, as of Wednesday morning here. Numbers have most likely changed by now).

Ismailia’s non-violent protests reportedly came to a head close to midnight on Wednesday 23 November, according to this emotional call [ar] to Al Jazeera reporting at least one death from the field hospital.

Protestors on the scene also confirmed the death:

@MostafaAmin84: A 15 years old boy died in #Ismailia after security forces and army attacks on Al Mamar square

However, one man from Ismailia filmed himself driving throughout the city to prove that reports of clashes are merely hyped up rumours. All seems calm according to his footage:

Meanwhile, news of clashes in Tahrir throughout the night kept flowing, as CSF and police reportedly continued their attack-and-retreat dance with Egyptian protestors, blasting them with tear gas and other chemical gases that are as yet unidentifiable. The one thing that’s clear, is the unanimous reportage of the gases' disturbing effects on the protestors.

But it’s not all bloodshed and mindless violence. The youth are responding to continuous state television media propaganda claims that imply they are aimless wastrels keen on aiding “foreign hands” in destroying the country, by putting together a list of their demands.

Actor Khaled Abol Naga, acknowledged to have been active in his opposition to the former regime during the revolution earlier this year, collected these points on his blog under a post titled, ‘From now on, our demands must be commands‘ [ar].

Although today makes it a total of five days of consecutive, sustained violence in Egypt, people are going about their daily lives as normal outside of Tahrir and the other protest hotspots of Egypt.

In fact, there are a great number of people furious at the protestors for disrupting the peace so close to the parliamentary elections set for 28 November.

The financial argument is another one that comes up consistently. People are fed up with poverty and the effect that protests are having on the stock market as well as their ability to work or find work.

@Sandra_Rizk: @mosaaberizing I have work to do I can't keep up with destroying Egypt and leave my job and work.. Excuse me for that.

Moreover, the same pertinent question arises – if the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) does in fact step down, who will lead the country?

@Sandra_Rizk: @mosaaberizing don't you want the army to leave? Why would they show up and help you! I don't get what you are doing to our country!

And finally, the one question that has caused people following the news out of Egypt much bewilderment: why now? Why did the people not wait for the elections, taking place in less than a week?